Intel Atom based minicomputers are phenomenally low powered and have no fans. Use maximum <5 watts while watching 4K movies, and normally about 3 watts when in use, not idle. I connect the box directly to ship's 13.6v power supply with no dropper or stabilizer.
Some users are using a Rock64. ROCK64 is a credit card size 4K60P HDR Media Board Computer powered by Rockchip RK3328 Quad-Core ARM Cortex A53 64-Bit Processor and support up to 4GB 1600MHz LPDDR3 memory. It provides eMMC module socket, MicroSD Card slot, Pi-2 Bus, Pi-P5+ Bus, USB 3.0 and many others peripheral devices interface for makers to integrate with sensors and devices. Various Operating System (OS)
I read it's possible to convert any screen by just using a more powerful backlight. You can buy LEDS of the right type, and install them to greatly increase backlight power. I think this will use a lot of power. The only alternative is transreflective?? This costs a lot.
I think I will keep the screen inside the boat and not worry about it. Maybe it's too far away on a bigger boat, but for me, I can see the inside screen fine sitting outside. I'm too worried about waves splashing it anyway.
See CruiserForum Disscussions:
Cheap Daylight Viewable Monitor
Raspberry Screen, Power Source & Housing
Cheaper but (too) small monitor where you must build your own waterproof chassis. Adafruit HDMI 4 Pi - 10.1" Display 1280x800 IPS, HDMI/VGA/NTSC/PAL, PROD ID: 1287 $144.95
Faytech Industries, 7"-15", IP65, 8-36VDC, 7-24W, Resistive (some capacitive) Touchscreens(USB), 1000Nit, VGA or HDMI $225-$590 USD. - The 10“ Faytech touchscreen works very well and is a rigid construction in an alu housing. Available with VGA or HDMI and it works with Raspberry PI. - Faytech screen is three times brighter and comes waterproof as standard. The Faytech has two buttons (+/-) on the front panel, so that you can easily change the light intensity, and the power consumption is only 10 watts. In combination with my Raspberry Pi it has a very low power consumption. Low intensity backlight 4.8 watts and high intensity backlight 7.8 watts, with the screen connected to a 240/12 volt adapter. See Bram's Post
Comparison: $145. vs. $270.
For $125 extra you are getting:
Faytech 7″ Open Frame Capacitive Touch Monitor
Industrial Pi CM4-70-EM - Raspberry Pi CM4 Compute Module 4 + 7'' display
TouchTecs Display Sunlight High Nits IP65 Sunlight Readable Marine Monitor Display Boat Monitor Size: 8” ~ 21.5“ Touch Think industrial-grade marine monitors, boat monitors are built to navigate and thrive through severe conditions.
Other comments:
Lilliput A7S screen (500nits) which initially was great in our cockpit (500nits), but the problem is that with polarized sunglasses all you see is a black screen. FYI this screen is not waterproof, but it can be fixed.
AndersG reports ..I am happy with the Lilliput A7S 7“ 1920×1200 500 nits photo field monitor. Some with say not bright enough but I disagree. Also high resolution makes up for small screen size… 12V OK… $155 from Amazon. I taped all the vents up and it ran OK for days (a bit hot but not too hot), so I am going to try and weatherproof it now.
For Small Touch Screens look at SmallHD. These are high end field and production monitors, with HDMI,sdi and wireless interfaces.
Brightness needs to be 1000+ nits
Brightness of 300 nits is just not enough. Typical, cheap, color chartplotters have a screen that specs out at 750 nits as a minimum; usually closer to 1000 nits. Can you “make do” with a 300 or 500 nit screen? Sure. That's about usual for a decent phone screen, and they work reasonably well in sunlight. But compare the screen on your phone to one on even a very cheap chartplotter and you will clearly see a significant difference. When you need the chartplotter you must see is clearly and easily.
10” Faytech monitor, daylight, water resistant and touchscreen. HDMi version. Works very well. For the touch screen you need the Egalax driver and change some settings. Works with two versions of OpenCPN. One with the detail chart and one with the overview.
FT10MBIP65HDMI -10“ IP65, High brightness cd/m2 1000+ nits, with two speakers, using HDMI cable for AIS alerts and playing music. Brightness setting on the front panel. Has led backlight. 12 volt. Power consumption in combination with the PI is around 10-12 watts. Has touch function (no gesture) with an Egalax driver. I have here the instructions on how to do that. It is not simply installing the Eeti driver. Bought the monitor in Germany at HRT.
Monitor has vesa mounting points and a support is not included. I use a Ball pivot Ram support, which is nice and rigid. I use an extra ball to have the monitor available on two places. I'am using the screen in combination with my RPI3B+. With latest updates and latest kernel. VC4 driver on. Running now with the glxgears test at around 1000 FPS. Price in 2017 was € 308,- including VAT and freight.
See photos in the link above. Or the Faytech 15” IP65 High brightness Touch.
For visibility, check out screens used as remote control for serious dslr and video shooters. Best DSLR Camera Monitors will have recent reviews, but such devices cost $$ while all it takes is an OpenCPN or any other free nav app on a sub 100 USD table, (even mirroring the RPI with VNC) . Hard to beat the buck factor. (Barnakiel)
Mikhail Grushinskiy shared a good Display Good Quality Marine Nav Display 7 inch IP65 waterproof Industrial embedded Capacitive Touchscreen Monitor 600cd/m2 (nits) (standard) doesn't make it much brighter than an iPad (Just ask for a brighter one of 1000+ nits). Only the screen part is waterproof (not a problem really), 1024×600. Variable 500nit-1500nit LED backlights.
See Full Ip65 Touch Panel PC, Industrial Mini PC, Industrial Touch Screen PC Supplier https://www.sihovision.com/ Also see Tech Ep3 Waterproof Monitor at the Helm, running Openplotter on a Raspberry Pi 4B - YouTube
15.5“ Tech Ep3 Waterproof Monitor at the Helm, running Openplotter on a Raspberry Pi 4B https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3y9jBpOEguE
See Mgrouch CF Post #4 in OpenCPN on a Touchscreen Mounted in the cockpit with cable to RPI inside cabin Waterproof IP65 7" 1024x600 Industrial wide temperature LCD monitor brightness 1000nit with Touch Capacitive Screen
Mgrouch provides modified OpenCPN software with TouchSreen enabled in Post #5
13”-19“ Samsung LED HD (720p) with 2 HDMI, USB, Coax, Component Analog Video (possibly VGA or DVI if needed) Under $130 You want LED as they use less and you must have HDMI for the RPI. The issue here is how to power with 12vDC. Two answers:
High power, sun readable displays are difficult to come by. I purchased a second hand Raymarine A65 for its 6.5“ quality display, it turned out to be just 400 nits. So we have to compromise a bit, put it in the shade or something. In terms of water proofing, my suggested approach is to build your system and then cover all the edges of the display/components with silicone. Definitely go for cheaper displays and replace often vs. buying one expensive display.
Delfin suggests: GeChic 1503H 15.6" IPS 1080p Portable Monitor with HDMI, VGA input, USB Powered, Ultralight Weight, 700:1 contrast, Speakers, Rear Docking, thin, not waterproof, from Newegg, expensive. Check the nits for this as they may not be enough for your eyes. (Note this one is only 300nits brightness. Delfin has a Trawler, so this is adequate for inside his cabin. It is not daylight viewable.)
A tablet on it's own has just a tiny fraction of the capabilities of having a Pi running openplotter providing data to a tablet. Add from a large selection of cheap sensors for barometer, voltage, current, temperature ; muiltplex it all over wifi as signalk & nmea, record everything into a database & view easily in a web browser; wifi access point repeater, decode wfax, music system, the list goes on for not a lot of cost and mostly menus to set up. No need for a monitor, set it all up with VNC on a tablet. (Conachair)
How does Sailoog Shop IMU sensor MPU-9255 $10 compare to
B&G Precision 9 Compass $650 or the All-in-one GPS + IMU Airmar GH2183 $800 http://www.defender.com in terms of accuracy, use with Radar Overlay, Arpa, Marpa, measurement of heeling angle and as bcn suggests leeway?
See also Build a Compass
Boat IO GPS module, CAN Bus/NMEA 2000 interface, Eight Digital Inputs, Two Digital Outputs (0.5A), Four Analog Inputs, NMEA0183 Interface, Two programmable LEDs, Real Time Clock, Shutdown Button Input, etc.
An OpenSource Marine Autopilot. Tested pypilot on a trimaran sailing 15 knots, and it is working.
PyPilot Forums
Sean D'Epagnier's PyPilot AutoPilot using raspberry zero-W or orange,
Pypilot Webapp if using tinypilot, creates a webserver which provides remote autopilot control through a browser. Trimaran test used rtlsdr IR remote for control. It can use any tv remote, also buttons, or gui program through openplotter.
This Autopilot uses modified and improved versions of SignalK and RTMUlib2. More details are available in the Wiki and README
Shop for Sean D'Epagnier's PyPilot Integrated Hardware:
Literally requires some Raspberry Pi, an IMU and a motor controller. https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f134/b-and-g-triton-236323.html#post3175756
There should be some NMEA0183-IN for the pypilot, since you want to steer on apparant wind, but that can also be provided over the network (kplex or signalk 10110). If OpenCPN and SignalK works on one computer, you use tinypilot (pypilot on a seperate pi) and they can be connected using wifi. If you use OpenPlotter you can also install pypilot to the same pi where you use OpenCPN adding the IMU and the controller to OpenPlotter.
Sensors (wind) =nmea=> pc (SignalK + Opencpn) =wifi=> tinypi <=i2c= IMU
|| /\
\/ ||
motorcontroller rudder feedback
Sensors (wind) =nmea=> pc (SignalK + Opencpn) <=I2C= IMU
|| /\
\/ ||
motorcontroller rudder feedback
You could also use the tinypi as central computer in the network (not my preference).
These HATS will work for certain with OpenPlotter HATS
Moitessier Hat (available): AIS + GNSS + compass + heel + trim MacArthur Hat (development): UPS (battery) + on/off switch + … Slocum Hat (development): Analog to digital converter + I2C/1W/GPIO easy connection + …
Another PCB effort I do not have any need for Wifi and will probably multiplex input signals in hardware instead. I have one USB plug that acts both as a HID for the keys/buttons and a CDC for serial, aggregating a number of serial signals as a combined NMEA stream. In this case a small PCB that will plug into the raspberry and allow you to connect just about any 40-pin TFT with touch and also accommodate several NMEA inputs as well as real buttons. This PCB stacked with the Moitessier hat would make a very capable, almost plug and play, plotter.
Note Well!! This hat is obsolete and not fully supported by OpenPlotter.
MCM Solutions https://www.tindie.com/products/mcm_solutions/openplotter-hat-for-raspberry-pi/
Phoenix's RPI3 and Tacktick We have a Tacktick wireless network and we interfaced it into our RPi using a USB RS232 cable from the Tacktick NMEA interface (T122). Works great. I suppose you could create your own interface but we had enough fun trail blazing for setting up the earlier versions of OCPN on the pi and luckily our system came w/the T122.
Draws much less power than the VHF set, though no good for weatherfax. Handy for ocean passages as well though to keep a Vhf watch drawing little r power.
BaoFeng UV5R Transmitter, 4 watt UHF / 4 watt VHF, draws milliamps. Costs about $30-50 USD, Requires Ham License for Transmit. eHam Review UV5R List (discontinued) More Details To power the basse, use a buck converter to 8vdc or small regulator.
BaoFeng BFF8HP BFF8HP Review, is the successor.
Icom T8A Review Yaesu VX-7A Review These are both old, there are more expensive recent ones available.
You can do a lot with 4 watts, if you have a good antenna and good installation. My fixed VHF set is usually kept on 1 watt. I've had “weak but readable” signal reports from 60 miles. I have a decent VHF/UHF Diamond antenna on a spreader, connected with RG214. A 5 watt Icom VHF/UHF handy talky hooked up to that does remarkable things over water.
Chart overlay on RPI-2B with Opencpn 4.8 and BR24radar_pi v3.0. The radar traffic via ethernet wiree to eth0. All NMEA 0183 via wireless lan. MARPA works fine, the radar window is slow while opening, but also works also fine. I use Rasbian out of the box and OCPN is locally built.
Arduino Alternator Regulator Can, Nmea2000, Signal-K
RPI GPIO-Button “keyboard” on Cruiseer's Forum
Setting up a GPIO-Button “keyboard” on a Raspberry Pi - Original
If you are electronically clever, AvNav Navigation may have some instruments for you. Opensource Instruments